And I would think it could be tuned as such. Possibly with some floppiness on the low end, and we all hate it when our low end gets floppy.
My Alembic Stanley Clarke 5-string was originally tuned BEADG - it's 30" scale, and the owner had problems with the low B - so much so that Alembic strongly discourages it. I restrung it EADGC so no problems for me.
I kind of like this new Ibanez. I have one of the mid-'90s MIJ Bass VI reissues - still haven't really come to grips with it, it sounded great when I used it in rehearsal (using it as a "normal" bass, playing with fingers) but I usually opted for "regular" 4-strings.